Anglo-Saxon England - English Unification (10th Century)

English Unification (10th Century)

On Alfred's death in AD 899, his son Edward the Elder succeeded him. Alfred's son Edward, and his grandsons Æthelstan, Edmund I, and Eadred, continued the policy of resistance against the Vikings. From AD 874–879 the western half of Mercia was ruled by Ceowulf II, who was succeeded by Æthelred. In 886/887 Æthelred married Alfred's daughter Æthelflæd. When Æthelred died in AD 911, his widow administered the Mercian province with the title "Lady of the Mercians". As commander of the Mercian army she worked with her brother, Edward the Elder, to win back the Mercian lands that were under Danish control. Edward and his successors made burhs a key element of their strategy, which enabled them to go on the offensive. Edward recaptured Essex in AD 913. Edward's son, Æthelstan, annexed Northumbria, and forced the kings of Wales to submit; then, at the battle of Brunanburh in 937, he defeated an alliance of the Scots, Danes and Vikings to become King of all England. But it was not only the Britons and the settled Danes who disliked being ruled by Wessex: so did some of the other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. Consequently, the death of a Wessex king would be followed by rebellion, particularly in Northumbria. But in 973 Alfred's great-grandson was crowned King of England and Emperor of Britain at Bath. On his coinage he had inscribed EDGAR REX ANGLORUM ("Edgar, King of the English"). Edgar's coronation was a magnificent affair, and many of its rituals and words could still be seen in the coronation of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1953, though in English rather than Latin.

The presence of Danish and Norse settlers in the Danelaw had a lasting impact; the people there saw themselves as "armies" a hundred years after settlement: King Edgar issued a law code in AD 962 that was to include the people of Northumbria, so he addressed it to Earl Olac and all the army that live in that earldom. There are over 3,000 words in modern English that have Scandinavian roots. Also, more than 1,500 place-names in England are Scandinavian in origin: for example, topographic names such as Howe, Norfolk and Howe, North Yorkshire are derived from the Old Norse word haugr meaning hill, knoll or mound.